Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a vehicle communications device and, more particularly, to an aftermarket vehicle communications device that can be coupled to a vehicle's on-board diagnostic (OBD) connector, provided as a permanent retrofit device, or provided as a standalone wireless device, such as a smart phone or key fob, and that provides vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) or vehicle-to-entity (V2X) communications.
Discussion of the Related Art
Traffic accidents and roadway congestion are significant problems for vehicle travel. Vehicular ad-hoc network (VANET) based active safety and driver assistance systems, such as a dedicated short range communications (DSRC) system, known to those skilled in the art, allow a vehicle to transmit messages to other vehicles in a particular area with warning messages about dangerous road conditions, driving events, accidents, etc. In these systems, either direct broadcast communications or multi-hop geocast routing protocols, known to those skilled in the art, are commonly used to communicate warning messages, i.e., to deliver messages to vehicles that are within direct communication range or are located within a few kilometers from the road condition. In other words, an initial message advising drivers of a potential hazardous condition is transmitted from vehicle to vehicle either in a direct broadcast fashion or by using a geocast routing protocol so that vehicles within the desired application range will receive the messages of interest.
The communications systems referred to above include vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) applications that require a minimum of one entity to send information to another entity. Broadly, short range communications that occur between a vehicle and any similarly equipped external object may be referred to as “V2X” communications. For example, many vehicle-to-vehicle safety applications can be executed on one vehicle by simply receiving broadcast messages from one or more neighboring vehicles. These messages are not necessarily directed to any specific vehicle, but are meant to be shared with a vehicle population to support the safety application. In these types of applications where collision avoidance is desirable, as two or more vehicles talk to one another and a collision becomes probable, the vehicle systems can warn the vehicle drivers, or possibly take action for the driver, such as applying the brakes. Likewise, roadway infrastructure components, such as traffic control units, can observe the information broadcasts or otherwise sense vehicle traffic and provide a driver warning if there is a detected hazard (e.g., if a vehicle is approaching a curve at an unsafe speed or there is a crossing vehicle that is violating a red traffic signal phase).
Since V2X communications is a cooperative technology, the system is dependent on other similarly equipped entities to provide safety benefits. As such, V2X systems are subject to the network effect, where the value of the system increases as the fleet penetration increases. In the early years of deployment, certain safety and other features may only be available in a limited fashion, as the number of communicating vehicles is not sufficient to provide safety benefits on a large scale. Existing vehicles without communications equipment will not be able to communicate with newer vehicles that have been deployed with a V2X communications system. Therefore, it may be desirable to provide an aftermarket device that is able to be used with an existing vehicle to allow that vehicle to be capable of providing vehicle location and state information to other vehicles and enable a variety of V2X features on the host vehicle using location and state information that is obtained from other communicating vehicles.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,930,041 issued Jan. 6, 2015 to Grimm et al., assigned to the assignee of this application and herein incorporated by reference, discloses an aftermarket plug-in safety device that allows a vehicle to communicate with other vehicles or infrastructures in a V2X communications system. The safety device is generally operable to be coupled to an OBD connector on the vehicle, and includes processing capabilities to identify the vehicle that it is coupled to by receiving data on a vehicle CAN bus, where the device performs self-configuring operations based on the type of vehicle, access to vehicle systems and location of the vehicle. The device also includes a radio for transmitting and receiving signals and a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver for receiving location signals and providing vehicle position data. In this manner, the vehicle is able to communicate with other vehicles having similar communications capabilities.
Although the plug-in device disclosed in the '041 patent provides many advantages as an aftermarket device to allow a vehicle to be equipped with V2X communications, the ability of the device disclosed in the '041 patent can be expanded to provide additional features to include emerging technologies, such as smart phones, wearable's, standalone devices, and integrated devices.